Philly JCC Set to Begin Maccabi Tryouts

January 24, 2013

If this brutal cold front lingers much longer, the thought of a trip to Orange County, Calif., could make boys, ages 13 to 14 years old, give their best effort when trying out for the JCC Maccabi Games basketball team.

The Philadelphia delegation will hold its first tryouts for the summer games on Feb. 3 at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood. Tryouts for other sports will continue through April.

The annual JCC Maccabi Games will be played this year in Orange County and in Austin, Texas.

Also happening this summer are the 19th World Maccabiah Games in Israel, an event that happens once every four years and sometimes gets confused with the annual JCC Maccabi games. These games, billed as the Jewish Olympics, bring together teams from all over the world and involve older teenagers and adult athletes.

Most of the teams have been chosen already, with many local participants gearing up for the July Games in Israel. The only remaining tryouts for U.S. teams are for wrestling, which will take place April 7 in Beachwood, Ohio.

Philadelphia hosted tryouts for the U.S. hockey teams in August and for men’s soccer and women’s soccer earlier this month. The international games happen this year from July 17-30 throughout Israel.